FINANCE OF HOSPITALS

Taranaki Daily News, 3 October 1929, Page 13

FINANCE OF HOSPITALS

PRESENT SYSTEM DEFENDED MINISTER TO MAKE INQUIRIES. WILL CONSULT LOCAL BODIES. (By Wire —Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. . An intimation that he proposes, in the Parliamentary recess to interview hospital ■ boards and other local bodies with a view to evolving a moie equitable system of taxation as between town and country districts for financing hospitals was made by the Minister of Health (the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy) in the House to-day. The Minister said he was trying, to evolve some better method of hospital finance than was in operation at present. However, it must be plain we had a system of hospital finance and a hospital system generally that gave a large measure of satisfaction. In the Old Country hospitals relied almost entirely on the very unsatisfactory and unstable system of voluntary contributions. Comparisons made as between that system and the New Zealand system were very much in favour of the latter for we had an assured basis of hospital finance. It was suggested the time . had come when we should have a more definite and substantial ba.sis for hospital finance. But that was precisely what we had got in contradistinction to Great Britain, Australia and America. A certain amount of fianancial responsibility fell on the local authority and on the local rates, and 50 per cent, of it on the Consolidated Fund. However, we had yet to explore a perfectly just system of finance, and he hoped, in the recess, to take a further opportunity to discuss with representatives of hospital boards and other local bodice some means whereby they might arrive at a more perfect and more just incidence of taxation as affecting town and country dwellers. . Alarm is frequently expressed by ratepayers and by public bodies at the persistency with which the hospital rate rises each year, but - so far no solution of the problem had been found. Reference to the matter was made by Mr. A. Hamilton in the House to-day. Mr. Hamilton suggested that perhaps it might be advisable to make up the shortage of hospital fees from the taxpayers or somebody else instead of keeping the burden upon the ratepayers. Some effort ought to be made to collect hospital fees from those who had received treatment, but if there were people who could not'pay, then the cost ought to be borne by the wealthier section of the community. It was hard for the ratepayers to have to meet a continually' increasing burden.